On the surface, there’s just not much to be said about Jackson County’s trip to Covington last week to face Eastside.

The Panthers were outgunned in terms of size, and were handed a 50-0 shutout to take home after being held to just two first downs during the game.

But tomorrow is another day and it could be a good day for the Panthers, who are next slated to travel to the Granite Bowl to face the Elbert County Blue Devils this Friday night.

Elbert County is 1-3 in the region, and 3-4 overall, while Jackson County enters Friday night’s pairing winless in the region, and 1-5-1 overall.

Elbert County has the edge in total points scored this season with 138, an average of 19.7 per game. Jackson County has scored a total of 48 points, an average of 6.9 per game.

The odds are a little more even when you look at the points allowed by both teams. While Jackson County has allowed 177 points to get past, an average of 25.3 per game, the Blue Devils have allowed 160 points to be scored against them, a 22.9 per game average.

The last time the two teams met, Elbert County took a 14-7 win back in November of 2001.

Jackson County coach Billy Kirk says he feels Elbert County is a team that the Panthers match up with position by position.

“I don’t think there’s a team in a region that’s not going to be faster than us, but I think we match up well with them on the offensive line and the defensive line,” he said.

Kirk said defensively, the Panthers will have a big job of stopping the Blue Devils.

“They run a lot of options, and we have to stop what they do best,” he said. “Playing in the Granite Bowl is hard to do. Coach Brent Miller does a good job.

“It’s a good chance for us to pick up our first region win, and that’s what we’re focusing on this week. We’re hoping to rebound this week and move forward.”

Game time in Elberton Friday night is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

For more on this story, read Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald.